P.V. Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian women's singles player to crash into the semifinals of the World Championships at Guangzhou in China on Friday.
The 18-year-old hammered former World No.1 Shixian Wang of China by 21-18, 21-17 in 55 minutes to haul at least bronze medal for India in the competition. Ten-times former national champion Aparna Popat opined that Sindhu can go on to win the gold too. Aparna commented that after Jwala and Ashwini's medal in 2011, this is an outstanding performance by an Indian. Notably, Sindhu is only 2 matches away from converting the bronze in to gold and she is capable of doing it.
Sindhu's peer and World No.46 in men's singles H.S. Prannoy ricocheted similar sentiments. He remarked from Hyderabad, where he trains with Sindhu at the Gopichand Badminton Academy that it was a good victory. Her hard work is producing good results. Truly, this is great for Indian badminton. In fact, the results are showing from the last couple of years. However, they were lagging behind in major tournaments. Remarkably, this medal is a massive step forward. All credit goes to her.
Doubles shuttler K.T. Rupesh Kumar assured that this victory will enhance the confidence of the forthcoming shuttlers. He stated that Sindhu has been exceptional. This will surely boost the confidence of all the youngsters in the nation and certainly will do a great deal for the development of badminton in India.
In fact, this will be the third instance when an Indian will capture a medal from the Worlds. Previously, Prakash Padukone won the men's singles bronze medal in 1983 at Copenhagen while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won another bronze medal in women's doubles during the last edition in London in 2011.
